Stay and Fight
by Aeris Aimara Ciren
Summary: Annette Greene always knew her kids were meant to do big things. That their lives would have an impact on the world. She didn't know her second death would be the changing point for this impact.
1. Chapter 1

She stayed and she fought by his side. She always knew she wouldn't back down. Not since she made the choice to live as her blood flowed around her on her bathroom floor. She knew this world would not kill her when the farm became overran and she killed her first one of those things trying to get away. She knew she would fight for her family, when one of the walkers was Patricia and she put a a piece of rebar between her eyes, never telling her daddy or sister. She knew she would always fight when the flu went through the prison, killing off many of her people. She knew she would always survive when the Governor stormed the prison, trying to claim it for himself. She knew she would live when it was just her and Daryl. She knew she would always love him, when he chose to fight for her.

So she stayed by his side and fought for him too. She lived even when the cut on her arm became infected, no one but her and her daddy knew. She knew that the world couldn't kill her when some of the blood from her first walker kill got on the bandage of the cut. She knew she would fight for her family, even as Walker Patricia almost scratched her. She knew she would always fight when the flu went around and she became sick again once the outbreak started to wane, make sure she protected Judith and Carol had her for a time. She is fine. She knew she would always survive when she killed a man to protect her family when the Governor attacked the last time. She knew she would live when she stayed and fought for her love and was scratched in the process.

-Say something, I'm giving up on you.-

She knew she would survive and live, even with the throbbing of the scratches on her back making her wince. Covered by her jacket, the bleeding has slowed. She shouldn't have doubted Daryl noticing her wince. The sounds of his footfalls instantly stopped. Everything was quite as he watched her gritting her teeth. "Ya alright there?"

She gritted her teeth, trying not to let the pain and fear get to her. A few tears slipped down her clenched shut eyes. "It's just . . ." Her throat swelled, imagining the worst.

"My back."

Daryl couldn't meet her eyes so he looked around, noticing another house in the distance. He walked closer to her, "There's a house close by. 'Nother few feet or so, beyond the trees. We'll hole up there for the night."

She opened her eyes, peering through slits to see the direction he pointed in. "Let's go."

Gritting her teeth and stomping through, trying not to scream as the backpack kept causing friction with the jean jacket she wore, rubbing on the scratches.

She stood off the side as he knocked on the door jamb, hearing nothing in side. "It's clear."

Throwing her bag down she fell to her knees by the little couch as he came in from around the corner. "What is it?"

"My back." He reached over trying to touch her. "Don't. Daryl!"

"You have to let me look at it." Waiting for her, she nodded.

"Can you get the jacket off?" She shook her head, tears tracking down her dirty face and on the floor. He pulled out the knife that had been with him longer than the crossbow, the mate to the one he gave her.

He touched her shoulder, dropping to a crouch by her, causing her to give a pained whine. He disregarded it as best as he could. "You have to keep quiet, Greene."

He cut away the sleeves of the jacket and then the back. All he saw were diagonal, bloody scratches criss-crossing the pale skin. "Beth. Are these?"

Knowing what he meant, she spoke hurriedly. "I'll be alright." She fell forward, tears falling, tears falling, unobstructed down her face and soaking the cushion under her. He critically studied the cuts, the scratches on her swollen shoulder and all down her back. Her skin was blotched and shredded with small areas of blue and covered in faded, dried blood. Most of the wound still oozing and raw.

"Beth. . ." For the first time since the 'shine shack, he said her name. Not Greene, princess, or baby girl, her name.

"Daryl. I'll be fine. You'll see." He didn't want to believe it, he didn't want to be there.

"First your ankle and now this, baby girl. We need to get you cleaned up. Here." The breath in his lungs halted as his voice started to break. He was going to be alone again. He would be here for her. Make sure her last memories were worthwhile.

He picked her up and carried her as gently as he could to the couch. "You won't be alone, baby girl."

"Daryl, it ain't what you think." She tried to turn her head and look at him, but he refused to meet her eyes.

"Stay here, I'll be back. He went to the bathroom to try and find some medicine. Anything. She had to be better.

'You couldn't save her, coul'ya, Darylina. Ma died. I died. She dying.' Merle's voice in his head.

'The one job I had. I couldn't even do that. Ain't nuthin' but a worthless redneck. I was 'lone all the times you left, I'll be 'lone after she gone. I couldn' save her.'

'You love her, don' ya.'

'It means nuthin now.'

His brother's shadow looked back at him, brows furrowed. 'What makes ya so sure a that, baby brother?'

He ignored Merle, splashing water on his face form the faucet, finding some peroxide and paper towels, grabbing his pack on the way back to her.

Beth's hands clenched, she wasn't crying for the pain anymore. She was fighting, feeling the weakness overtake her. She ain't felt this bad since she fell sick at the prison. The time before that, she hadn' felt that bad since the cut on her hand became infected with the blood.

Her groans could be heard coming from down the hall as Dary walked in the room. Moving faster, "Shh now, baby girl. Ain't gonna be none of that. We're going to get you nice and clean."

"Daryl. We'll find them right? You and me? Baby Judith? Rick, Carl, Michonne?"

For one moment he was reminded of the only time his mother ever comforted him, he pet on wrapped hand down her hair, trying to soothe her. He voice was scratchy. "Yea baby girl. You'll sing Judy all her favorite songs, be the first one to learn how to use 'Chonne's sword, show Carl a thing or two about shooting my 'bow."

The heat from her head was excruciating, she was breaking a fever. "Daryl?"

"Yea baby?"

"It hurts."

He meticulously began to clean her cuts, digging in the bag for the bandages they found in the funeral home. "I know. I know. It'll be over soon. I'll take care of you 'til it ain' hurtin' no more."

"I'll be okay Daryl, you'll see." He continued cleaning the scratches, wiping down her back with the water in his bottles.

"You're strong baby. Can you sit up? I need to wrap 'em." Grabbing the bandages, he helped her up, still not looking in her eyes. In not time she was bandages, the last of the ointment on under em. "I'll change them for you in a couple of hours."

He didn't speak again after that.

She wasn't having none of it. "Daryl? WIll you look at me?" Tilting her head to and fro as he moved around her, securing the bandage she couldn't meet his eyes, obscured by the long hair of his.

The tears kept coming, the pain not stopping. She didn't move much more than her head, trying not to agitat the scratches. She felt tired and heavy.

She felt the care with which he did everything; cleaning her wounds, wrapping her up, and making sure she was warm. The gentleness of his touch as he resumed petting her hair. "Daryl? Please."

She heard the roughness in his voice as he spoke for the last time in awhile. "Rest baby girl. You need it."

She shook her head, keeping her eyes open. Her vision was blurry and she blinked to clear it. His hand never stopped and she could have sworn she saw his shoulders shake just a little.

She felt the tremors of his hand as they moved through her hair. The heat of her body make her feel clammy. She wanted to move but didn't want to lose his touch. "Daryl? Do you think they're alive?"

He felt her eyes on his as he nodded, trying to even his breathing so she wouldn't hear. He sat on the floor by her side, not moving til her end. He would be there til the end.

"You shoulda run girl."

"I wasn't going to leave you Daryl. It's you and me now. I will fight for you, with you. Always."

He felt a chill through his bones as he thought of a future without her. Such a thing, breaking his heart as his own eyes grew watery, blurry with tears.

"And I you, girl. I'll be with ya, always." His shoulders shook, a lot like his voice. He was losing it.

"I believe you. It'll always be us. Even after we find them an we're all together again. Do you think Maggie found Glenn?" Her voice drifted off in a different direction, much like her thoughts.

"I know she did, baby." His other hand fisted, hurt and anger on her behalf as he remember the Terminus sign.

"Yea. I think they were meant to be. No matter what would've happened, they would find each other. I think, all of us would have found each other at some point, in the old world. If none of this had hapened."

"You think so huh?"

"Yea. Daryl?"

Looking down, he finally looked in her eyes, seeing the tears falling in her cloudy blues, he softly wiped them away. "What is it baby girl?"

"I love you." The words were a whisper as her eyes slowly drifted shut.

His throat clenched tight as his hand in her hair stilled at the same time her chest did. "I loved you for a long time, girl. Ain' never said nuthin' 'fore. You always were too good for a dirty old redneck like me." His voice broke and the tears fell.

He sat there for a long time, not seeing anything. The edges of his vision were black as his heart broke.

He slowly stood, drifting his hand through her soft hair one last time. Walking toward her bag, he rifled through, looking for her best set of clothes. He would make sure she looked her best as beautiful as he knew she was.

The world lost something big in her. His heart clenched and stopped beating. In losing her, he lost everything. It hurt more to than losing is brother. Ole Merle was a grown man. Little Beth was a damn angel. The brightest thing to ever walk this earth.

He grabbed the matching knives and set them on the floor next to the couch. Pulling out a pretty yellow top with little flowers on it he had found her in a pile of things on a run one day, he set it by the knives, as well as her best jeans. Covered in stains of walker blood and baby fluids. the cleanest pair she had.

"I -" His throat was still tight as he kept moving around. He cleaned up the bandages and medicine, putting the things from her pack in his. They weren't ever gunna leave him. The last bits of her he could ever have.

"I loved you since the day I pulled up to your daddy's farm and you were standing on tha porch. Hair all golden from the sun, smile wide and heart-breakin'. That's all you been doing since that first day baby girl. Breakin' my heart."

Somewhere in the world, the earth tremored and the skies cried with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Her vision was blurry as she saw the sparkle of the sun. "I loved you for a long time, girl. Ain' never said nuthin' 'fore, I wish I had. Ya always were too good fer a dirty ole redneck like me."

Her throat was closed as she tried to speak. The pain was so bad, she couldn't move, couldn't reach out to him. "You are the best man I've ever know, Daryl."

She wanted so badly to reach out to him. Her body shook as his did too. The tremors of his hands moved to the rest of his body, the force of his sobs shook not only him, but her too. A few tears leaked out from the corner of her eyes.

She didn't know how long they stayed there, until he finally started moving around. The rustle of clothes filled the empty silences around her. Her breathing evened out until she fell asleep again.

The feeling of warm water on her skin woke her up and her eyes would not open. The burning of her skin had faded away in her sleep. She heard him talkin', the most he's ever said at once in the almost three years she's known him. "I loved you since the day I pulled up to your daddy's farm and you were standing on tha porch. Hair all golden from the sun, smile wide and heart-breakin'. That's all you been doing since that first day baby girl. Breakin' my heart."

By the end, he was crying and so was she. His voice broke and some words were missed, but she understood. 'I'm still here Daryl. I'm fightin'. Please don't give up on me!'

"You'll keep breaking it, 'til I'm dead and gone and with you again." He tried to be mindful of the scratches, somehow not wanting to hurt her anymore than she had been. "You're starting to get cold girl. Better hurry along now. It won't be much longer, 'fore you turn. I just, I can't do it now, you know? I love you baby."

The shaking of his hands wouldn't stop as he put the cloth back in the pan of water he'd found in the back of a cupboard. "You woulda liked it here girl."

He made sure not to tarry too long in dressing her. 'I already do like it. You're with me. I'm fine Daryl! Please! Look at me!'

Her throat was tight and garbled sounds echoed in her head as she tried to speak. His turned his back, grabbing up her bloodied and ruined clothes. "I'll be back baby. Please. Don't move."

He took everything out of the room, the sounds of sloshing water running down the rain and the front door opening as he left. "Mmm!"

SHe laid as still as she could, having been moved on her back, not wanting to reopen the wounds she could feel stitches pulling. "Mmmmm! Ehhh. . . "

Her groans bounced around the empty room as she tried to forced her throat to work and mouth to move, the sounds so familiar and foreign to her at the same time. Giving up after a minute, she tried to twitch the stiffened joints.

Her pinky moved a fraction, her eyes would not open, but she felt it. she felt every nerve ending in her body on fire. Not the kind that burned, it felt warm. The blood moving through as her heart pumped slowly. Everything about her was hypersensitive. Her other pinky moved. She kept at it, even after hearing Daryl walking back in. By then, she was 8 fingers in and now it was 10. Her toes were moving fine.

She no more tried to speak, remembering and recognizing the sounds for what they were and what she was not. She wanted to stay alive. She would fight, to show Daryl she was still alive, that she wasn't going to leave him.

"Oh thank god baby girl. It's not your time yet. I know you're ready to move on, I'm not. ready for you to leave me." He knew all he had been for almost 40 years, empty and nothing. It was all he knew. All he had known, until her. His - he could never claim someone as beautiful and pure as her as his, Bethany Josephine Greene. Her sweet smile and tender heart opened up his own.

Without her, it had no reason to stay open. He would bury, do right by her. They take care of their own. Then we would go out and find the rest of their family, spend the rest of his life caring for and protecting the people he loved. Doing for them, what he couldn't do for her.

He wasn't fit to be a protector, but in the end of days that's all he knew.

She tried to move her ankles, until the force of it almost had her shaking, giving up, she would come back to them later. Her head was next, trying to move it back and forth even as she felt the cold. Her body was losing heat. She was not giving up.

She thought back to the kids from the prison, hoping they'd gotten out. She thought of little Judy and her soft baby kisses. Seeing Daryl herd the kids around, give them small tips to stay safe until someone came for them. She hoped someone got them to safety. This world wasn't one for kids to grow up in, but she damn well would try. She'd get better, get stronger. Help daryl, help herself. Find the children, find her family.

Her head tilted, her left ankle twitched. Success! Her fingers were wriggling like little worms under the blanket Daryl had covered her up in at some point. How long had she been lost in thought? She didn't spend too much time wondering, determined to go on.

He had fallen asleep a some point, his eyes crusted in dried tears. It wasn't the smartest thing to do with a dead person liable to turn at any time, but he didn't care. The person was Beth. She could do anything to him and he would welcome it with a smile. Even eat his guts, they weren't much to them anyways. Not without her smiles, without her light to guide him.

He sat up, looking around the room the two of them were in, the cabin, when he walked through shortly after Beth fell asleep. He thought about how inviting it almost was. It reminded him of the homes, the families he would have been born into had his life been different. The one he always imagined proper and welcoming, warm and inviting with the sounds of childrens' laughter and sweets baking. Nothing like the one he came from filled with childrens' tears and stale cigaretts, alcohol and drinken laughter.

This was the kinda home Beth woulda loved. He woulda done his best to give her this type-a home. Beth gave him all the things he'd never had before. She gave him a place to she was giving him these last hours with her. He other hand gripped the knife. She would be turning soon. Then he would be on his way to find her family.

She knew she was getting better. 'Daryl!' Her skin wasn't as cold as it had been. She was fighting and winning. Nothing was going to bring her down now. The twitching of her body trying to move and get circulation flowing was becoming noticeable.

A sob broke from his lips when he saw the sheet covering her begin to move.

Her head followed the sounds of his sobs, she couldn't quite get her voice to work yet, her eyes were starting to open and finally! The sheet was blocking her view.

HE sat up straighter, wiping the fresh tears from his eyes. "Oh baby girl. It's time ain't it?"

Groaning was coming from her unused throat muscles. She was twitching more still, her fingers and toes wriggling. He took no notice of the fact that she didn't try to sit up and go after him when he spoke, caught up in the breaking of his heart and spirit with having to kill her.

The air around her was thick, she felt pulled taut. She wanted tog et up and see him. She wanted to hold him to her and never let him go again. She would never put him through this kinda pain again. She would fight for him, him and no one else. She wanted to tell him that.

"Shh baby girl, there will be none of that. Just hush now and it'll be over soon and you can finally rest." He hand reached out to grab the side of her head and make sure the sheet stayed over her. He couldn't look into her eyes and see his Beth gone forever.

A\N: Merry Christmas everyone!

Part 2 of this little three piece is done. I'll be posting up the third chapter some time next week. Also, keep your eyes peeled for the other stories. A couple of them will be updated today!

I hope everyone is doing well and having a good day!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** **SO something sparked in me and I will be stretching this out a little further than I thought. The way it looks, there may be a sequel. Especially if Annette Greene's "prophecy" does come true. Let's see how it goes.**

The slick silver edge of the knife never met the golden waves of her head as his grip on all that hair fell and he leaned forward. Ragged sobs stuck in his throat and mirrored droplets refused to fall from his eyes. He scooted back and hunched over. Daryl Dixon was a shell of a man.

Beth Greene has ripped him open and exposed every piece of his lonely soul and breathed fire into it. Now her light faded and so too the fire in him was barely even an ember.

 _ **-Anywhere, I would've followed you-**_

The weeks they fought together will forever be with him. She was dead now, but her presence with him was alive in his heart forever. He would never let that go. He would never let her go.

Those fucking words echoed in his mind over and over as he remembered the night his heart ripped open for her, and only her. The late spring night rang out around the couple at the moonshine shack." _You'll be the last man standing, Daryl Dixon." Her smile was bright, even with a sad edge to it. She always knew her days were counting down. This world was not meant for a girl like her, but she survived and she made it this far._

 _It was in those moments that she made a promise to herself that she would fight for him and make sure that he lived. The world needed more good men like Daryl Dixon. As far as she was concerned, he was the best man there is. He would be the one that would see the world to a better future. She wanted to see that future._

 _So she told herself she would continue to make it until she couldn't anymore. That time wasn't now all those weeks ago in the moonshine shack._ **That time wouldn't be until a day passed into two, then three. Three days meant a week, a week turned into a month and a month faded with the seasons. Here they were, now at the end of summer.**

 _ **-Say something, I'm giving up on you-**_

She would scold him for having no more faith, no hope. How can one have hope when it lie dead in front of them? The groans were getting louder and yet he took no notice of it as the blade fell the ground at his knees, from his loosened grip.

He would follow her and go to the place she was, wherever she was. If her soul was trapped in her dead body he would stay in his. If she were released he would will his soul to follow wherever hers had gone and pray to every god and hers too that he went with her. He had no hope that a rotten man like him would be allowed to enter the Gates of Heaven, to be with an angel like her. But, he would try his damndest.

 _ **-And I will swallow my pride-**_

His throat was thick as he focused on the two knives, both exquisite with ivory handles, two of set. One had been his and the other Merle's, now it was hers. It used to be hers. He never hesitated giving it to her. "I'm so sorry I never told you, baby girl. It was you, who'd changed my mind. There are good people in this world. You are the best of them."

 _ **-You're the one that I love-**_

Her words would not reach them as she shed the tears he couldn't. "I love you Daryl. You are better than anything. Better than me. So strong. Mine. After this, I am never letting you go."

Nothing came out but groans and Daryl finally cried.

 _ **-And I'm saying goodbye-**_

His hand reached for the fallen blade. It was through the tears that he couldn't see her jaw move and form incomplete words. The only things he heard was the rushing of his own ears. Those tears pooling in his eyes fell down his cheeks.

"Beth."

 _ **-Say something, I'm giving up on you-**_

Everything in him felt cold and numb. He thought onto the scratches on her back. He wasn't fast enough to get to the walker before it got to her.

 _ **-And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you-**_

"This is all my fault, baby girl. If I hadn't pushed for us to reach the silo, this never would've happened. I knew you were tired. I knew you were hurting. Your daddy. Maggie's signs. Your ankle."

 _ **-And anywhere, I would have followed you-**_

Her fingers were moving faster. A sense of urgency pushed her on. This wasn't supposed to happen. Her time is not now. She is fighting. Why can't he see that? She will survive this. Her back arched up from the couch, moving the sheet down to her hips. Just a minor spasm. "Daryl."

Finally a complete word left her lips, nothing more than whisper. The fucking sheet was blocking her face still. It needed to be gone. Her shoulder twitched. Her legs were twitching too. Her body was twitching and dancing. She needed to move. She tried again. This time it was louder. 'Daryl."

Her body fell back down to the couch.

 _ **-Oh-oh-oh-oh say something, I'm giving up on you-**_

The groans from her body were getting louder. For one second he had a stray thought of whether she would feel as brittle and cold as the rest of the walkers. He sat up straight, still refusing to see her. He would wait until she moved. His grip tightened up on the knife until his knuckles were white and a muscle spasm in his arm. And he groaned.

Covering up the next sounds to fill the room. "Daryl."

 _ **-Say something, I'm giving up on you-**_

Her knees jerked the tiniest amount, she couldn't see it but she felt it. And she was frantic. She felt trapped and suffocated. Nothing was working and her eyes were open, seeing the white sheet and the darker edges of the wooden ceiling as the day faded away. Her head was turning back and forth and finally! Victory! The sheet started to move down on her face. She felt the cooler night air brush over her forehead. Her fingers tried to get a good grip to pull it down. No cooperation. There was no time for her body to start this. It needed to listen to her and her mind!

 **Grip. The Damn. Sheet!**

Nothing.

There was a real groan this time. Feral and mean as she grit her teeth. She was not giving up. She could feel her own heart breaking as she heard the floor creaking with Daryl's body shift and a heat grew closer to her body. Daryl. The nerves in her neck were on fire and she tried to move her head.

She wanted to hold him to her and never let him go again. She would never put him through this kinda pain again. She would fight for him, him and no one else. She wanted to tell him that.

That desperation spurred her on. Even as she felt his grip in her hair once again. Even as she fire in her body faded away at his touch and she could move. Her frantic hands gripped the sheet. Her body was hers, he was hers.

 _ **-Say something-**_

"Daryl!"

This time she was heard. This time, his heart was spared. This time, he would dare to hope. One last time.

This time she stayed. This time she fought. This time she won.

 **Final Notes:**

 **So I was sitting at work and got really bored and something felt right to come back and explore this story. I love the way it turned out. I kept bouncing everywhere with it. Writing bits and pieces. If you noticed the first two chapters had small pieces of 'Say Something' by Christina Aguilera in it and this story had the rest. Now I will be working on a sequel for this story, but I need a song. Suggestions from you guys would be cool.**

 **Oh I also have a tumblr if anyone wants to stalk me on that. Look for me under: breathoffreshaire**

 **I really do hope you all liked this. Until Next Time, Ja ne!**


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